Across the nation

Posted: July 26, 2012 - 11:18pm

WASHINGTON

House Republicans on Thursday criticized the Justice Department’s decision to challenge new voter ID laws in several states, saying it shows the Obama administration is more concerned with Democrats winning in November than protecting against election fraud.

As police officers pleaded for all available medics to converge on the scene of the Colorado movie theater massacre last week, a two-man ambulance crew and their rig were idling just a few miles away.

While some ambulances were quickly called to duty, it took dispatchers more than 20 minutes into the crisis to ask the Cunningham Fire Protection District and other nearby agencies to provide aid at the multiplex in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

By the time the Cunningham crew arrived, it was more than a half hour after authorities got first word a gunman had opened fire at a packed midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises,” killing 12 people and injuring dozens.

WASHINGTON

Tens of thousands of civilian employees in the Defense Department could receive warnings about potential layoffs four days before the November election if impending spending cuts aren’t averted, hitting presidential battleground states such as Virginia and Florida hard.

The alerts would come in addition to any that major defense contractors might send out at the same time to their workers under an often-overlooked law, a prospect that is unnerving the White House roughly three months before voters go to the polls.

Frederick Vollrath, a senior Pentagon official, outlined the timeline for notification of possibly 10 percent of the 800,000-strong civilian workforce in testimony Thursday before a House panel. He cautioned, however, that no decision has been made on job cuts as Washington grapples with the looming, $1.2 trillion automatic reductions in defense and domestic programs.

NEW YORK

A ring of bandits made high-end motorcycles suddenly disappear — and illegal guns appear — on New York City streets in a lucrative smuggling scheme, authorities said Thursday.

The ring dispatched “steal teams” in stolen minivans — their backseats removed — to comb upscale neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Heights for Ducatis, Hondas and other bikes of choice, authorities said. Then they would stop alongside parked bikes, slide open the van door and lift them inside before driving off.

“In most instances, this took no more than 30 seconds,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said at a news conference where he and District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced enterprise corruption and other charges against 33 people.